Thermo electric battery



{Nc} fnde.)

P. HGGS. THERMO ELECTRIC BATTERY.

E0. 244,235. Patented Ju'iy 12,1981.

'UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

PAGET Hines, or NEW Yoann. Y., Assiettes 'ro JAMES c. REED, er SAME l iPLAGE; i

T H ERMO-ELECTRIC BATTERY.

' SPECIFICATION- forming part of Letters PatentNo. 244,235, dated July12, 1881.

'Application tiledMarch'1,1881. (No model.)

To allwhomrz'tmay concern i Be it known that LPAGET HIGGS, acitizenofGreatBritain, residing -in thercity, county,4

two parts of an otherwise homogeneous monometallic circuit arelin adiere'nt Vstate of mechanicaltension the two parts can for thermo- :0electric purposes be considered as two differ#- ent metals and`constitute a thermo-electric couple from whichacurrentcai; 1be obtainedby the proper application of heat. y

The invention, in its several parts, consists in the construction of apractical thermo-elecf tric battery or pile from which a working currentcan be obtained and in which the elements are constructed froma singlepiece of metal or alley, cr from metal or alloy ot rone kind; 5o and italso consists inthe variousdetails hereinafter pointed ont by which theApile is made practically useful. It will be hestunlerstood `from' thefollowing description of the battery and its principles. g5 If a circleof wirelbe subjected yto tension by means of a stretcher upon itsdiameter the two lhalves of, the circle will' be equally strained; bntif the stretcher constitntega chord ot' the circle at a considerabledistance from the center, ittis obvious that the smaller are will besubjectedto a greater strain than the greater. Such a circle is shown inFig. 1 and will constitute a thermo-electric couple, and if it besubjected to diierent degrees of temperature .5 at the points where theunequally-stretched portions meet-#that is, at the ends of 'thestretcher-an electric current will be mail tained through the circle(the stretcher being a nou-conductor) which may be tested `fby a gal- ,ovanomcter.. The same principle, of course,

'i' a perspective viewv applies to a wire circuit in the form of anellipse where the stretcher is at a considerable distance from any axisof the ellipse, Fig. 2, and even to @triangular circuit, Fig. 3,01' anyoblate figure.

To construct a battery on this principle, l take a coil of wire,preferablyfof iron, (through other metal 'or an alloy wouldanswer,)'and'for such purposes I iind a Swedish iron which vis very softand ductilc to be best suited. I also 6o prefer thatI the coil should heof such shape that its normal section-that.is, thesecticn` lperpendicular to the axis of the coil-#should tend to .the ellipticalrather than the circular, though, as before seen, its shape does not af-65- fect the principle: In the interior of this coil Vl placca stretcheror series cf stretchers at a distance from the axis of the coil, in sucha manner that'each circlepot' the coil will be in Y its constituentportions unequally stretched, 7o the parts which are most stretched `alllying upon one sidel of the stretchers and those less stretched upon theother. If,"now`, the ends of the coil .be connected by a conductor so asto make a complete circuit and fthe partsyof 75 thecoil at c heatedwhile the part-s at (l remain cold, a current will pass through the wirevaryingin its qualities with the size of the wire, the differencev inthe tension ot the two sections of the coilandtlie difference fin tem-8o `perature between the parts'c and parts d, which representrespectively the `hot and cold ends of aseriesof thermo-electriccouples, constitut ing a metalliccircuit.4 y 1 Fg represents a verticalvand Fig. 6a 85- horizontal sectionof the coils, showin` in de,- 'tailone of thel arrangements I have e'vised -fer stretching the Wires.

' g g are two wooden or non-conductin g strips, placed one without andthe other within the 9o coils parallel to its axis. They are connectedwith each other by.bindin'gscrews V7:1, byfneans of' which they areclamped to the wires suciently to prevent the strips slipping en thelatter. h h are similar strips, similarly placed 9 5 h on the other sideof the coil, and so that the Iplane of all the strips will'di'vide thecoils into y two unequal sections.

e c e are non-conducting stretchers, oi' which one end hears against theinner strip, h. The roo mechanism, so that'they could be operatedttoother ends are connected to metallic springsl L, while the other endsof'the'springs bear against and are connectedwith theinner strip, g. It4willbe advantageous,however, it' they also'pass4 5 around the strip andconnect with the wires, so as' morereadily to receive heat from thelatter. They are so constructed 'as to 4expand when heated, andare shownin different positions in Figs. 5 and 6, so that 'the drawings ro' willbe more easily understood., They might occupy either-position.

. Instead ofthe springs,screws mightbeplaccd between the. stretchers eand strip g, so con s'tructd thatl by turning them the distance be- 15tween the strips h and' g' would be increased. v By the originalconstruction ofthe stretchers and springs, or by turning the screws, thesections b ofthe wire may be subjected to any desired degree oftensionin the cold Vcondition of the battery. If,.no w, heat be applied in anymanner to the strips g g or to the wires at the pointsc, so that thelatter become heated at those points to a higher degree than at d, the 1springs or screws will become heated, as also a portion of -rthestretchers e, and the whole v 1 stretcher expanding will increase thedifference' in tension between sections a and b, or create such adifference, and the entire coil, the ends l of which are connected, willconstitute an electric circuit, including a series of thermo-electriccouples, with a dili'erent temperature at their opposite points ofjunction, 'whereby acurrent will be created and maintained as long asthe difference continues.,

" Instead ofthe stripsg and h the stretchers r may be entirelydisconnected from each other, f and the -ends of each 4provided withsuitableclamping devices, so` as not to slip. There are many deviceswhich' are well k'nown and which y would be suitable for the purpose.Care must, however, be taken 'to insulate at least one endl of thisstretcher from ,the wires.v

:Suitable devices canalsobe provided for ex met peratur'e of the ends ofthe ference may be maintainedi well known to experimeu tric effects, thheat'should pends .that oft them might be subjec able devices, so thatthe p l them should diff th ed details constitut the principal featubattery of a sin metal, ,by stretc of the coils, tained while claim-asmy in'vention- 1.' The battery consisting of a coil of-wire divided bysuita alternately have agrea mechanical tension, sub

` 2. A battery consisti -vided by suitable mea are alternate] pressionand videdwith means 4 whichc'reatesthe-curre the difference in t enscrbed.`

4. In combination coil, the heat-e`x equivalents. A

wit of its'axis.

eoliples. v This dit i n a variety of ways e principal not v pointbeingthat the ary, as upon h ecurrent. Instead ot'stretehingthe coilsasection:..of

ted to such as enlarging the stri ortions of wires .inclosedAl besuicientlylongto `m erence in -temperat en compressi as in/Fig. 7.It-will be seen th aintaiu a eportions of myinvention, re is theconstruction of a and that this feature may be mainthe details arevaried indefinite] y.

Specifying the invention more specitically,I

ble means int'o sections, which stantiall y as described. ngof a coilofwire dinsinto sections which y subjected t0 .n1-echan in a naturalcondition. 3.I A thermo-elec whereby the same heat nt also operates tocreate sion,l substantially as depanding stretchers le, lor their Y vl1theseries'ot' stretchersplaced at one side 6. A vthermo elec Vpandingthe stretchers by mechanical means 'with 'a series of stretcherscon'nectedwith the 45v alone, such as the screws I have abovere- 'coilsat the heatingendand insulated at the ferred to, placing no relianceupon the expandcold end.

ing action of the lieat, and

s uchexpanding" stretchers might' be connecte d by a common ofpreventing thestre'tcb 5o' getherandby a single action. n described y 'gInstead of the outer strips, g and h,t ub es @LA QE'IHlGrGS.A maybeplaced throughwhichcontinualstreamsy Witnesses:

of water, one hot and one cold, may runfor the WyLLYs HoDGEs,

purpose of maintaining the di'erence in tem- WILLILM HILLIABD,

its constancy def ..35 tric "tension batteryyproters in thermo-elec; i.

pressureby suitFV P5! g l betweex; -65

aU-their ends, and: t ng that portion' by theV screws 'j at while theabove speci@ gle piece of metalior of lone A i hing or compressing aportion ter and less degree of l8o o with the thermo-electric '9 tric""coil,l iuy combination tricl coil, in combination rco

